SO YOU WANT TO KNOW what the hordes think about dining out in the city? Just pull up one of a million amateur-review websites or flip through a couple of those quote-filled guidebooks. But if it’s serious, considered advice on…

WHEN PATRICIA YEO DECIDES to throw a cookout, her guests know better than to expect a humdrum spread of burgers and crudités. The chef, who recently took over at Om in Harvard Square and is working on a forthcoming restaurant,…